Currents|15 December 1997

Winning Health Victories with Community Commitment

Improved access to health care is not the principal solution to the problem of premature deaths in poor communities, according to participants of the 1997 International Health Congress sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the state of Maryland. The remedies lie mainly in economic growth and independence, which come only with heavy involvement in planning and implementation by the people who need the help.

Nearly 100 participants traveled to Baltimore in September to discuss the Healthy Cities projects, which are taking place in more than 1000 cities throughout the world (Box). The Healthy Cities concept is barely a decade old; begun at a conference in Toronto, it was formalized through The Ottawa Charter, a document that has become a guide for people who seek to implement health promotion and environmental improvement strategies.